Search for the closest match in a collection using AND, OR, AND NOT (Boolean) logic.

Browse

Study Program Search

Explore

Z39.50

Results Display

The results display provides the user with limited details about the items returned from a result. Each item can be viewed in detail by clicking on the title. All web links can be visited by clicking on the WEB link for that item. Items are sorted by title initially but can be sorted by Author and Call Number as well. If the search returns more that one page of results, the next page can be selected by clicking next or entering a page number and clicking 'go'.

Details Display

The item details page shows all known details about an item.

Save Basket

The save basket is an area that can store items for future reference. An item can be added to the save basket by clicking on the associated 'plus' symbol. If a 'plus' symbol is gray, the item is already located in the user's save basket. If there are no associated 'plus' symbols with items, the save basket feature has been disabled by the library administrator.

The Alexandria web interface automatically records the last 5 searches and last 5 items viewed by the user and provides links to return to those items in the left menu bar.

Four Rules to Searching Alexandria

1. When searching for short words or root words, an exact match search might be better than the default beginning with search. Alexandria defaults to a beginning with search unless otherwise specified. This means an any word CAT search is actually any word beginning with C-A-T. Items with words like cathedral, Catherine, Cather, catch, catcher, catches, catching, catastrophe, cataclysm, etc would appear because these all begin with C-A-T. To make a search an exact match search, put a period after the search term. (e.g. CAT.)NOTE: Some root words are not short. Civil is a root word in English - civil, civilian, civilians, civilize, civilation, civilations, civility, civilities, etc. Roman is a root word in English - roman, romance, romantic, romantically, romanesque, Romanov, etc.

2. To get a more complete results list, use the Boolean search with an any word search with one word in each search box. Doing a search on subject Civil War will only get those items that have an incorrect subject of Civil War. It will not get those with the subject of U.S.--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 because Civil War doesn't start the subject term. However, since subject terms also have the indiviual words of the subject keyworded under the any word category, searching for any word Civil. and War. will return more titles at one time and does not require an understanding of the subject headings.

3. Use the Browse button on the Boolean search to check the keyword list to make sure that the search term that was entered is a valid term in the Alexandria system. The Browse list only contains searchable terms for this collection and can be immensely valuable to ensure correct spelling or terminology. For instance, a correct subject might be Mythology -- Occidental, however, there might not be any items in this collection with that subject and the dictionary would not have that as a search term in the list.

4. When doing a Boolean search of three or more search terms, when mixing ANDs and ORs, the order the search is entered determines the results that you receive. Alexandria processes search requests from the Boolean Search window in a top down order. Whatever is in the first search box is found first, whatever is found in the second search box is second, etc. So searching for Mythology AND Roman OR Greek returns different results than searching for Greek OR Roman AND Mythology. The first search returns all books on Roman Mythology or any book that has Greek in the record. The second search returns only those books on Greek Mythology or Roman Mythology.NOTE: When mixing ANDs and ORs, if there is one search term that should appear in every record returned by Alexandria, that search term should be the last thing searched for using the AND Boolean operator.

Patron Reservations/Holds

A patron can request reservations and holds from the web interface if the library administrator has enable this functionality and a valid patron is logged in.

Patron Log In/Patron Status/Patron Edit

A patron can log in by choosing the Log In link on the left menu bar. To check a patron's status or edit a patron's personal information, the patron must log in first, then the links for status and edit will appear in the left menu bar.

Sessions and Security

For security reasons, Alexandria Web uses session management. A session is held within a single web browser instance and will be eliminated after the interval specified by the library administrator. Once the session has been eliminated, the user will no longer be logged in nor will any of the user's data (save basket/last 5 searches/last 5 items) be viewable.

Web Links List

Library administrators can create a list of web links that are beneficial for their users by generating a list of descriptions and links in Alexandria's Web Preferences.

Library Information

Library information will display the library's information as specified in Alexandria's Library Preferences.

Language

A user can select the language of the web site at anytime by choosing the correct language in the left menu bar.

Web Preferences Editing/Viewing

Web preferences can be edited by a library administrator either from the Alexandria Librarian Workstation or by this interface's left menu bar.

Icon Definitions

Add item to save basket.Item already located in save basket.Remove item from save basket.Return to the previous search results.Show current patron's detailsNavigate to the charges pane for the current patronChange page to the holds for the current patron or itemChange page to the current patron's or item's reservationsEdit the current patron or itemLook up a patron to make currentView the item detailsSearch for a new item to edit or make current